Scicluna: " the Church's Practice in Combatting Child Abuse Needs to Be Audited"

By Gerard O'Connell
Vatican Insider
February 12, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/scicluna-abuse-abusi-abusos-simposio-symposium-12543/

Charles Scicluna

An exclusive interview with the "Promoter of Justice" at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Monsignor Charles J. Scicluna works at the side of Pope Benedict XVI in dealing with the sexual abuse of minors by priests, evaluates the recent international symposium on this subject and emphasizes that "awareness needs to be translated into practice" in the Church, "and practice needs to be audited"

What is your evaluation of the symposium?

The symposium, organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University, was a truly Catholic experience. We had bishops from all parts of the world, and coming from different points in the experience of the sexual abuse of minors.

We had bishops from the USA and Canada who had already an experience with applying the law as it stands, through three steps: setting the norms and applying them, then doing child protection systems - guidelines and practice, and finally auditing the practices.

Then you had other people who are still trying to come to terms with sexual abuse itself, and with the fact that a priest can ever abuse a minor.

Between these extremes you had lots of people in the middle. But coming together, listening to each other was an experience that, in the end, was enriching for everybody.

Were there other positive aspects?

The other positive aspect was the important support of the Holy See, and of the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Bishops, Religious, and the Evangelization of Peoples. These are very important departments of the Roman Curia which not only promote the law but also, in the case of Bishops and Evangelization – choose bishops. It was important to have these four departments participating in this event.

Furthermore, a very good number of experts from all over the world were present at the symposium and shared their expertise. This made the whole experience one of very high quality.

A victim addressed the symposium

That was important because it gave the right sort of input and made the event a truly complete experience. It was important to listen to Marie Collin's experience, and to the advocacy offered by Baroness Hollins.

Their message was very clear, and very well received. It was a very important moment at the start of the symposium. We were all very impressed by this woman and her courage. I think every participant is very grateful to the courage shown by Marie Collins, and for the gracious way in which she listened and empathized with the bishops, and showed the way forward.

Is it clear to everyone that children are the priority?

I don't think that any participant went away without realizing that this is what the Church from the top down and from the base up wants. After all, that is what Jesus wants. The Gospel says: Do not impede, do not hinder the children from coming to Jesus. Scandal destroys the innocence of children and young people.

And what about putting the institution before the individual?

Putting the institution above the protection of children is not only evil it is antithetical to the nature of the Church.

Problems of abuse have surfaced in Europe, North America and Oceania, but there is still 'the silence' of Asia and Africa.

I think silence is a sin that you will find everywhere. I was quite impressed by the interpretation that Archbishop Tagle of Manila gave for this Asian tendency to keep things hidden, and not to disclose abuse. He used two terms: shame and honor. The shame and the silence is a way of protecting the little honor which is left in the victim. But it is quite tragic to have to defend one's honor by simply burying an abuse that has been experienced.

Archbishop Tagle himself was indicating that the time will come when Asia will need to move from this way of defending one's honor, because at the end of the day silence will only give the opportunity for predators to move on from one victim to the other. It will not give the solutions we seek; that is, to limit and prevent harm.

What about Africa?

People from Africa told us that there are great problems relating to sexual misconduct in Africa, but these concern adults. We don't have statistics and we have few cases reported of abuse of minors from Africa.

How is Latin America acting on abuse?

Latin America is actually increasing in its awareness of the problem. We've had – because the media talked about them – some high profile cases from Latin America and those have put the matter on the agenda, not only of public opinion but also of the local churches. So the response we get from the bishops in Latin America is very encouraging. We have bishops who take disclosure cases seriously, and encourage people to disclose. I think that is the way forward.

The question of the accountability of bishops has been raised frequently. Are bishops aware that they are accountable for their actions or omissions here? Secondly, could you explain the provision in Canon Law for those who fail to exercise authority properly in this field?

I'll start with your second question. We usually refer to penal law as a response of last resort, and that is what I would want it to remain concerning the accountability of the shepherds of the Church. Canon 1389 talks about abuse of power, but also negligence in the use of power, and Canon128 then talks about liability for damages when a person causes harm to another person in the Church, through negligence or through malicious actions or malice.

I think that bishops know they are accountable, first of all to God and to their communities. The message is very clear: when it comes to protecting children disregard for Church rules or procedures is unacceptable. It would be truly going against the nature of a shepherd and a steward if he allows his flock to be harmed and innocence to be betrayed in this way.

There are sanctions for those who refuse to be true stewards, and the Holy See has the duty and the jurisdiction to act in defense of the People of God, and the People of God have the right to bring their concerns to the Holy See.

The theologians who addressed the symposium said: "the Church must be close to the victims but cannot fail to be close to the abusers too who are now judged without mercy." Was this discussed much?

Part of the symposium was to help bishops respond to the CDF's invitation to make guidelines, and these guidelines talk about the pastoral care of the complainants or the victims, and of the accused. These two important aspects have to be balanced. Participants also highlighted the need to talk to the people close to these groups: families of victims, families of the accused, and communities impacted by abuse

What challenges lie ahead after a symposium like this?

The challenge comes at the level of the local communities, how to bring awareness to local communities, to parishes, to schools, to families. If we don't have that sort of empowerment of our communities then we remain on the level of good laws, good practices, and documents. We're talking about practice, and this is the more important and challenging aspect. Awareness needs to be translated into practice, and practice needs to be audited.

Is the audit only an internal one?

A good audit needs to have an external input, an input which comes from a disinterested third party who is not part of the community. I think a credible audit will always need an external input.

How would you sum up the symposium?

In two words: awareness and commitment.